


We'll Always Be Here For You

by trixwitch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Genderqueer Character, Hogwarts teachers - Freeform, I just needed queer mama bears this week, Mama bear lesbians, Older lesbians, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, baby queer students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trixwitch/pseuds/trixwitch
Summary: Professor Sprout and Madame Hooch, who have been partnered for years, find themselves intervening in a number of situations of students being bullied, and they form a little queer support network with their students.
Relationships: Rolanda Hooch/Pomona Sprout
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set post-Harry Potter, without a lot of specifics about what's happening in the magical world. I just wanted to write fluffy queer stuff set at Hogwarts after JKR went on a TERF Twitter rant. Again.
> 
> Note: I'm American and am not going to attempt British slang. Also I'm cis, and am drawing on friends experience to write the genderqueer student, so PLEASE comment if anything doesn't sound right.

Professor Pomona Sprout looked out on the sea of children from her spot at the staff table in the Great Hall. She couldn’t contain her smile at the energy in the room. Every year she worried that she wouldn’t feel this excitement at the beginning of the term, and every year she did. There was just something about the contrast of the quiet and lazy summer months to this burst of chatter and laughter and the occasional shout that made her sit up a little taller and look forward to her first classes.

The first years were her favorites - especially the Muggle borns. Watching their eyes light up as they took in the castle and the ghosts and moving portraits was just so delightful. It was one of the reasons she’d put in for the Head of House position. She got to help acclimate the kids to life at Hogwarts. She couldn’t wait to take them on their first walk around the grounds, and watch as the Muggle borns heard all about Quidditch from their peers.

At the thought of Quidditch, Mona glanced down the table, her smile turning to a sly grin when she caught the flying instructor’s eyes. She shared a look with her partner before turning back to the room at large. She knew Ro was just as excited as she was about the start of term, even though she’d been complaining about “the little shits” returning since last week. Mona shook her head at the thought. Ro Hooch was such a softy at heart, even though she made sure none of the students knew that. 

A hush descended on the room and a spark of anticipation filled the air as Professor McGonagall led the terrified-looking first-years down the center aisle of the Hall towards the Sorting Hat. Mona leaned forward in her seat, eager to catch a glimpse of her new Hufflepuffs.

The Sorting Hat was plopped first on a tiny blonde-haired girl named Zoe. A rustle of giggles went through the crowd when the hat promptly fell over her eyes, being held up only by her little pig-tails. Mona stifled a laugh, which turned into a cheer as the first student was sorted into Hufflepuff. She peered at the girl, trying to memorize her name in relation to her face. Mona prided herself on learning her student’s names as quickly as possible. Grace Brown, Eduardo Ramirez, Shruti Das - student after student joined the table, each of them wearing that familiar look of relief as they sat down to cheers and high-fives. She wished the first-years wouldn’t worry so much about the Sorting Ceremony, although she knew it was intimidating to stand up in front of the entire school like that. 

There was one tense moment when a first-year who was sorted into Slytherin tried to sit at the Gryffindor table. It was unclear if the boy was confused or trying to cause trouble, and of course the Gryffindors took it upon themselves to let him know what they thought of a potential stunt at their expense. Mona shook her head as she watched Minerva McGonagal try to quiet her self-righteous students while simultaneously throwing nasty looks at the Slytherins. That woman was much too competitive for her own good.

The rest of the feast passed uneventfully, and pretty soon Mona was helping to round up the sleepy first-years to be led to their Dormitories. As the last one fell into line behind their prefect, she turned back to the staff table, which had emptied out except for a few teachers, including Ro. 

“Doing rounds?” she asked as soon as she got close enough for Mona to hear her over the fading din of the students. 

Mona nodded. “Shouldn’t take too long. Should be home by 9:30.”

Ro nodded and turned away with a wink. Mona smiled to herself. Even after so many years, that woman was still such a flirt, and Mona loved it. She followed the line of first-years, catching the arm of one boy who was about to wander off down a corridor and returning him to his place. There was always one who tried to sneak out the first night to go explore, and it was definitely going to be him. Although that little girl in the pigtails who had seemed so nervous at first was now gazing around her with a wide-eyed expression on her face, and Mona made a mental note to keep an eye on her as well.

***

“So? Which one tried to escape?” Ro handed her a glass of whiskey the minute Mona walked into their cozy rooms just down the hall from the Hufflepuff dormitory. She leaned over for the quick kiss that Ro offered with the glass before settling into the second armchair next to the fire.

“Two this year! A very eager young boy named Jeffrey, and Zoe Clark.”

“That girl with the pigtails? I knew she looked too innocent.”

Mona laughed. “Quite. And she nearly did it, too. Jeffrey just ran headlong out the door into the waiting arms of the Fat Friar. Zoe must have watched him do it, because she waited until a 7th year came in and slipped out the door as it was closing. She’s the one to watch.”

Ro got up to refill her drink. “Any favorites so far?”

Mona considered. “Not yet. Come morning I’m sure they’ll start to show their personalities.”

A comfortable silence filled the room. The two women sipped their drinks and gazed at the fire.

“Fancy a game of chess?” Ro asked.

Mona groaned. “Not tonight, dear. I need my wits about me tomorrow and I don’t think losing spectacularly to you will help me achieve that.”

Ro chuckled but nodded agreeably. After another few moments she got up and put a record on the turntable in the corner. It scratched to life and she smiled at the melody she obviously knew by heart. 

“Dance with me?” she asked, holding out a hand. 

Mona smiled at her fondly, set her drink down, and let herself be pulled into a tight embrace. Ro hummed along as they swayed, and Mona leaned her head on her lover’s shoulder, basking in the warm firelight, the safety of those strong arms holding her back, the shimmer of the moonlight streaming through the window. Moments like this she couldn’t remember ever being more content.


	2. Chapter 2

Some years the incoming class of first years just gelled, forging a class identity that carried them through nicely. And some years, apparently like this year, they just never found their footing. Mona saw it immediately when the Gryffindors all huddled together in the greenhouse, and the Hufflepuffs stood in groups of 2 or 3 or by themselves. In Mona’s many years of teaching, she’d come to anticipate that any class where house affiliations were stronger than individual friendships never quite got there. She was particularly distressed to see so many Hufflepuffs by themselves, though. Her house usually figured themselves out first, but this year was looking rough.

She put those thoughts aside, though, and focused on the lesson. She liked to trot out some of the more interesting plants on the first day, just to get the kids interested. She watched the first years’ eyes grow wide as she demonstrated Devil’s Snare, pulled out a few choice items from her carnivorous toadstool collection, and dug into her gigantic pile of dragon dung fertilizer. That last one got a few kids giggling, as she hoped it would. She set them to work filling out their observation forms for the plants she’d placed on the main table, and wandered around to check in.

“Hannah, is it?” she asked of a Hufflepuff working by herself. The girl nodded. “Will you tell me what you notice about this fern?”

The girl looked down at her paper, which was filled with tiny, neat writing that Mona could barely read. When Hannah looked back up at her, there were tears in her eyes. Oh dear, thought Mona, a painfully shy one. She smiled kindly and turned so she was standing next to Hannah.

“Here, you’ve already filled out the section on the fern,” she said, peering down at the paper. “Mind if I take a look?”

Hannah nodded again, and Mona was pleasantly surprised to see a very thorough list of observations there. Mona grinned at her.

“Very good work, Hannah. Keep it up, and Herbology just might become your favorite subject.”

The way the girl’s face lit up was exactly the reason Pomona Sprout became a teacher. She chuckled as she moved on, finding a pair of Gryffindors just beginning to see about flinging dragon dung around.

***

Mona was exhausted by the time she got back home that night, and from the looks of it, Ro was too. Mona found her partner with her feet propped up on an ottomon, trimming the ends of a broomstick that was lying across her lap. Ro kissed the air when Mona came in, and made no attempt to move. For her part, Mona just flopped down on the couch, and heated up a cup of tea with a wave of her wand. Her mother had been a Muggle, and there were some things Mona just couldn’t let go, like making a proper cup of tea with a kettle. But tonight she was too tired.

“Long day?” Ro asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, but yes. You?”

Ro huffed and swiped particularly hard at some crusted dirt on the broomstick. “Not one of the best first days,” she said, and Mona could tell that was a serious understatement. 

“Want to tell me about it?”

Ro sighed. “Maybe later.”

“Alright.”

Mona sipped her tea for a moment, and then summoned her book from the bedroom. She knew her partner well - in about 5 minutes it would all come out. She hid her fond smile behind her book as she thought back to when they’d first moved in together. It was now almost 15 years ago, and they’d had more than a few tense evenings of Mona insisting that Ro was hiding something, and Ro storming off, only to come back and apologize and tell her what was going on. They’d worked it out, and now it didn’t take long for Ro to come around and talk about her feelings. 

“There was something of … an incident today,” came the quiet but gruff voice from the other side of the room. 

Mona put her book down. “With the students?” she asked.

Ro nodded. “It was the Gryffindor-Slytherin class, which if you ask me is just a recipe for disaster from the start.”

“No argument here.”

“Anyway, there’s this Gryffindor kid - Jesse.”

Mona made a noise of recognition. She’d spotted Jesse in her class, too, although hadn’t had a chance to get acquainted. 

“Right,” Ro said. “The Slytherins got started on the way he dresses and speaks, and even though I intervened a few times, they kept going when I was focused on something else. And Mona, it was awful. I remember getting those kinds of names and taunts as a kid, and how it felt.”

Mona put her hand out and grabbed her partner’s across the space between them, squeezing for just a second as she too thought back to being bullied for not fitting in, for being too much of a tomboy. And then eventually for being gay. She felt Ro squeeze her hand back, though the other woman never looked up.

“Well, apparently it escalated,” Ro went on, “and then out came the really nasty language.” Here, though, her face brightened. “Jesse held his tongue for a while, but once they called him a … a faggot, he jumped on his broom and proceded to knock every one of those Slytherin boys down from above. It was a fine bit of flying, I”ll tell you that.”

Mona laughed. “Bet it was hard to give him detention after that.”

Ro grinned. “Minerva officially gave him detention, but when she heard about his flying, her ears perked up. I think we may have another first-year Quidditch exception coming up.”

Mona rolled her eyes. She loved Ro dearly, but just could not understand the hold sport seemed to have over some people. For her part, Ro couldn’t understand why Mona didn’t see it. But they teased each other good naturedly about it.

Ro looked back down at the broom and kept working on it. “I”m worried, Mona,” she said quietly. “None of the other students stepped in to defend Jesse.”

Mona sighed. “I saw that, too. I know it’s only the first week, but this class doesn’t feel right. I hope it doesn’t get too bad for him.”

“Well, he’s got two people looking out for him,” Ro said.

***

It was only two days later when Mona found herself in precisely that situation. A core group of Slytherin boys had taken up the cause of bullying Jesse, and it was starting to spread. Mona intentionally paired up kids from opposite houses to work together that week, to try to diffuse things during class, but still two Gryffindor girls spent the entire lesson whispering and pointing at Jesse, who was working across the table from them with Jeffrey, Mona’s Hufflepuff troublemaker who, despite his ability to slip out of line unnoticed, had a good heart and a strong mind.

“Girls,” Mona said in her best Stern Teacher Voice, “please focus on the lesson and leave your classmates to do the same.”

It worked for about 5 minutes, and then, when she was on the other side of the greenhouse, she heard one of the girls say clear as day, “what even are you? Are you a boy or a girl?”

Mona rushed over to step in, but stopped when she heard Jesse reply just as clearly, “neither. I’m just a person. What are you? A butt face?”

It took every ounce of restraint not to reward that with a smirk. Instead she separated the students, and warned them that their Head of House would be hearing about this. She knew better than to single Jesse out after class, but she made sure he and the pair of girls didn’t leave at the same time. Shoot, she really needed to ask this kid what pronouns to use. She kept up with Muggle news and culture a lot more than any of the other teachers, through her mom’s side of the family, and had had a long and fascinating conversation with her niece about pronouns and gender identity just this past summer. And it seemed that experience was about to come in handy.

At the end of the day, Mona went to find Minerva McGonagall, as much to report on the two girls’ behavior as to consult about Jesse. She knocked on the older woman’s door, and received a curt “enter.”

“Minerva, how has the first week been for you?”

The Professor sighed, a pinched look on her face. “Shut the door, would you?”

Mona did, and dropped down into the chair in front of the desk.

“I have never had so many complaints about fighting and arguments in the first week since, well since Harry Potter, to be frank,” she said.

“It’s the same with my students,” Mona agreed. “I could tell right away that this class wasn’t forming good social bonds.”

“As could I, but I really didn’t expect it to be this bad this fast.” She sighed. “I suppose you have another complaint to bring?”

Mona explained what had happened earlier, and then asked if Minerva knew which pronouns Jesse preferred.

Minerva blinked at her. “Pronouns?” she asked.

“Yes,” Mona answered, a bit too proud of herself to have a leg up on the great Professor McGonagall for once. “Jesse indicated that neither boy nor girl really fits, and I’d like to know which pronouns to use. For example, he, she, or they,” she added when the blank look on the other woman’s face did not resolve into understanding.

“Jesse is a boy,” Minerva said. “Shouldn’t boys be referred to as he?”

“Not all of them like that. Some of them might feel like she or they fit better.”

“They? Who?”

Mona took a deep breath, silently thanking her niece for her patience when she’d been on the other side of this conversation. “They can be used as a singular pronoun for people who feel like they don’t fit into either category.”

“Is this a Muggle thing?” Minerva asked.

“Possibly,” Mona replied. “I learned about it from my Muggle family. Is Jesse Muggle-born?”

“I believe so.”

“Well, regardless, someone should really ask about it.”

Minerva raised her eyebrows. “I believe you just volunteered,” she said.


End file.
